k.vlaros wrote:Sounds like a great way to spoil a hobby and maybe a relationship!
My number one turn-off with nerd-centric retailers is dingy, disorganized, smelly environments. Clean, order, align, and illuminate and you'll be a step ahead. I'd pay up to half again more than online to "have it now". And if I didn't have my phone on me, I might unwittingly pay more yet. Especially if there is a return policy (store credit is fine). Schedule competitive events- I'd love to see something like that in this area. There is one retro store within a 75 mile radius of me that's continuously operated for about 20 years. They know their stuff and price accordingly. I paid too much for good CIB copies of Xenosaga and Valkyrie Profile 2 there recently. What's interesting about this place is their inventory is about 20% PS2, 20% N64, 15% current-gen and the rest split between NES and SNES. There's no Master system, Dreamcast or Saturn, no PC Engine, not much original Gameboy, nothing earlier than NES. And there's not a single import. As the store has managed to hang on so long (and my distinct impression is they exist on a thin thread indeed) , I'm sure this is because of actual supply and demand-- though I wonder which of those is the bigger factor. And location is absolutely critical. You aren't selling essentials, so you can't afford for people to go out of their way to reach you. A small strip mall with a shared parking lot of solid anchor between downtown and suburb along the main drag would be good. So somewhere people would pass all the time coming home or going to work. I wouldn't put it in an indoor mall with tons of kids crawling around, gunking merch up. Though you could probably find traditional mall space cheap these days. I wouldn't bother with sales or member programs. I would steal an idea I've seen: let customers register for specific games to receive emails or phone calls when those trade-ins arrive.
the supply v demand thing is a super good point. You need to know YOUR AREA. There are game stores that might have I don't know -- Earthbound for $60 let's say. Now on the internet we know this is a good deal, but let's say everybody that actually frequents that store only plays Genesis. Now what difference does it make what that SNES cart is priced at. Know what I mean?
I guess I mean if your actual customers aren't buying certain things -- sell them on eBay or something. But don't keep that cart up for sale because the Sega kids are looking at it like "$60 for a SNES cart? This store is overpriced"
or something.
